What It Takes to Photograph the Ocean's 'Crown Jewel'

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Indonesia's Raja Ampat is home to a stunning array of sea life. David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes photographed its wonders in 2007—and returned two decades later to check in on…

Indonesia's Raja Ampat is home to a stunning array of sea life. David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes photographed its wonders in 2007—and returned two decades later to check in on its marine protected areas.

Nearly 20 years after their iconic 2007 article highlighting the impact of marine protected areas in the Indonesian islands of Raja Ampat, National Geographic Explorer David Doubilet and marine biologist Jennifer Hayes returned to the archipelago on a new assignment. The duo has spent most of their lives innovating with underwater photography, producing more than 75 features for National Geographic and hundreds of remarkable visuals of life beneath the waves.

This time, for the November 2026 issue of our magazine, they documented and shared how a remarkable conservation success story has transformed Raja Ampat over the past two decades.

But with more people arriving in Raja Ampat each year to witness its wonders, the area is facing a new challenge. So how do you protect a paradise without loving it to death? Hayes and Doubilet talked to Nat Geo about their favorite fish to photograph, inspiring the next generation of marine biologists to safeguard Raja Ampat's biodiversity, and what keeps drawing them back to the ocean's "crown jewel."

You’ve returned to Raja Ampat dozens of times since your 2007 feature. What’s so enticing about taking pictures there?

Jennifer: It's so vibrant that it's hard to capture in a frame. When [there’s so much action happening on] a reef that you just don't see it, you feel it, trying to capture that feeling in a frame—that is the magic of Raja Ampat.

David: You never have exactly what it looks like. It's like everything is on a street, and a different parade goes by every single day and every single moment. That’s what's frustrating. And yet when you capture it, it is joyous. It's been like that for me now for 60 years, and it doesn't go away.

Jennifer: Some stories you leave, you finish. But some stories never leave you.

Raja Ampat is teeming…

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